Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) Shares Down 1.4% – Time to Sell?

Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) shares dropped 1.4% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $60.85 and last traded at $61.17. Approximately 7,170,227 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 64% from the average daily volume of 19,909,787 shares. The stock had previously closed at $62.06.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CSCO has been the subject of a number of research reports. Rosenblatt Securities raised Cisco Systems from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $66.00 to $80.00 in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Bank of America raised their price objective on Cisco Systems from $60.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Cisco Systems from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Melius raised Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $66.00 to $73.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $66.63.

Cisco Systems Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The business’s 50 day moving average is $61.74 and its two-hundred day moving average is $57.62. The firm has a market cap of $237.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.06, a P/E/G ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.79.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The network equipment provider reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.91 by ($0.14). Cisco Systems had a net margin of 16.96% and a return on equity of 26.08%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.41 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. This is a boost from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.75%. Cisco Systems’s payout ratio is 71.62%.

Cisco Systems declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, February 12th that authorizes the company to buyback $15.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the network equipment provider to reacquire up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Richard Scott Herren sold 19,929 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.41, for a total transaction of $1,283,626.89. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 335,605 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,616,318.05. The trade was a 5.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Charles Robbins sold 31,983 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.41, for a total value of $2,060,025.03. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 736,120 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,413,489.20. This trade represents a 4.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 66,547 shares of company stock valued at $4,275,553 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Cisco Systems

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. bought a new stake in Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Navigoe LLC purchased a new position in Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC bought a new position in Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. JDM Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in Cisco Systems by 160.4% in the 4th quarter. JDM Financial Group LLC now owns 487 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the period. Finally, Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Cisco Systems during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. 73.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Cisco Systems

Cisco Systems, Inc designs, manufactures, and sells Internet Protocol based networking and other products related to the communications and information technology industry in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia Pacific, Japan, and China. The company also offers switching portfolio encompasses campus switching as well as data center switching; enterprise routing portfolio interconnects public and private wireline and mobile networks, delivering highly secure, and reliable connectivity to campus, data center and branch networks; wireless products include wireless access points and controllers; and compute portfolio including the cisco unified computing system, hyperflex, and software management capabilities, which combine computing, networking, and storage infrastructure management and virtualization.